Attempts to visit Iranian opposition leaders denied

The children of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard issued a new statement today describing their latest unsuccessful attempt to see their parents at their home and their growing concern for their well-being. Last night they found no evidence of their parents continued presence there.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard

The daughters of the Iranian opposition leaders tried to visit their parents at their home in an alley off Pasteur Avenue in Tehran. The alley has been sealed for the past two weeks by a steel gate which prevents visitors from entering.

On Tuesday, two top judiciary officials announced that, despite contrary reports on opposition websites, the opposition leaders were in fact still at their homes, though admittedly sealed off from all outside contact.

Yesterday the state-backed Keyhan newspaper quoted a security official saying the children of detained opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdii Karroubi will be allowed to see their parents once they agree to refrain from delivering political messages.

For more than two weeks, no contact with the two opposition leaders and their wives has been allowed, and opposition websites report that all four captives have been moved to a Revolutionary Guards prison.

Mousavi's daughters say they told security personnel at their parent's alley about the Keyhan report, hoping to gain entrance. But the guards said the news report was erroneous.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives were cut off from the outside world by Islamic Republic security forces after the opposition leaders rallied people to take part in widespread demonstrations to show solidarity with the recent Arab uprisings.

Jaras reports that Ardeshir Amirarjmand, the aide to detained leader MirHosein Mousavi, told Iranian and French reporters yesterday that the contradictory reports on Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives is a mark of the Islamic Republic’s “fear and mendacity.” Amirarjmand noted that the state could easily clarify the issue by allowing their family members to visit.

The children of the two opposition leaders have made several announcements indicating their belief that, based on the evidence, their parents are no longer in their homes.

The government insists that MirHosein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard as well as Mehdi and Fatemeh Karroubi are in their homes but are barred from any outside contact for security reasons.

The house arrest began after the opposition leaders called for a rally on February 14 in support of the recent Arab uprisings.

Mousavi’s daughters made another attempt to see their parents two nights ago but were denied passage.

Opposition websites have reported that the two couples have actually been transferred to a Revolutionary Guards prison.

The Karroubi family has described the treatment of the opposition leaders as “state kidnapping and hostage-taking.”

Top judiciary officials have adamantly denied this report and insist that the opposition leaders are still at their homes. Yesterday, Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi also denied that the opposition leaders have been incarcerated.

Today, Amirarjmand also told reporters that street protests are not the only form of resistance. To confront the “oppressive regime”, he said, “we must change the situation by creating new local networks and engaging in other forms of civil resistance such as sit-ins and strikes.”

Asked about the prospect for protests on International Women’s Day, he said: “The Green Movement has been heavily influenced by women’s networks and their nuclear innovations. The two movements have influenced one another deeply and are naturally supportive of each other. Therefore, if women’s rights activists organize any protest for March 8, the people will take their place alongside them to support the demand for equal rights.”

Some women’s rights activists have rebuked the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope for failing to call a day of protest in the name of International Women’s Day. The Coordination Council for the Green Path of Hope has spoken for the opposition ever since the Iranian opposition leaders were cut off from outside communication.

Amirarjmand told reporters that the Coordination Council was established through the foresight of Mousavi and Karroubi, and due to security concerns, its members will not be officially announced.